Utah farm advocates praise child labor decision

Contributed

SANDY-- Utah farm advocates are praising the Obama administration for dropping an effort to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents.

Utah Farm Bureau President Leland Hogan said Friday the proposal would have barred many young people from working in agriculture, including on extended relatives' farms.

The Labor Department announced Thursday it was withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.

Government officials said their goal was to protect children from life-threatening injuries.

Hogan says the bureau and the state officials have long been working for farm safety and have seen farm fatalities drop 83 percent since 1986.